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Graceland 2×08 “The Ends” Recap

Spoilers Ahead

I’m not the only one who misses surfing and nights spent at The Drop right!? I’m 100% sure that a night out with the group will cure everything.

Episode Summary: Charlie convinces Amber (Brit Morgan) to assist her with robbing the safe deposit box. Briggs saves Kelly Badillo from a suicide attempt then slightly reveals his ties with the FBI. When Sulla doesn’t let Mike buy all the girls, he decides to stay at the headquarters in order to watch out for them. Jakes and Paige try to find different forms of transportation for the drugs in order to catch the Solanos once and for all. Johnny and Lucia go to Mexico with different identities.

Review | Analysis: I feel a bit let down by these last two episodes and it’s primarily due to the slow paced plot. And though I completely understand that these things take time but both this week’s episode and last week’s feel as though they’re nothing but fillers. And the only great thing about “The Ends” is that we’re closer to the world finding about what Briggs has done. I’ve shared my opinions about his character enough already and just as I assume you all are tired of me saying I cannot get behind him and Charlie as a couple because of the lies, I’m tired of writing about it.

Despite missing the substance and heart established last season, I’ve got to commend Eastin for managing to make me frustrated with each and every character. There comes a point in a series where I feel that’s necessary and we’re at that point in Graceland. I am however hoping it stops already because individually, the characters aren’t shining as they can and should.

Furthermore, the problem with Briggs’ situation is that unless he’s willing to lose his job completely, he cannot come clean about the murder despite it being purely self defense. Here’s to hoping that tape’s released soon because it’ll be what could possibly set him free. Reminder: Briggs never came clean about the entire thing because he was drinking that night thus intoxication could’ve resulted in skewed judgement on his part; however, I feel as though right now, there are ways in which he can get through this even if they’ll require a few more lies. Frankly, the only thing keeping me interested in Briggs’ character at the moment is Sunjata’s impeccable performance week after week. For me personally, lies are never okay especially the kind that could emotionally scar someone as the truth will undoubtedly do to Charlie.

Speaking of Charlie, we finally get to see her back in action and it’s glorious. Ferlito’s ability to play an absolute badass is effortless – she’s stunning during scenes like this one and the confidence she wore at the beginning of the episode was a delight to see. She hasn’t exactly been herself lately and while I adore Momma Charlie to bits, it’s always incredible to watch her in action.

Johnny developing feelings for Lucia isn’t exactly the safest means of going about the situation. And no matter how adorable they are –they’re at an 8 from a scale of 1-10, at the end of the day, she’s linked to the Solano’s and for Johnny’s safety that wouldn’t end well for him. In next week’s episode he’s going to Mexico with her for protection, but in reality he’s supposed to sell to Solano different ways of transporting the drugs and girls.

Jakes seems to be one of the only characters who’s got his head straight in this house and he thankfully finds a plane that could ship the drugs. I wanted to see more of him in this week’s episode but unfortunately we got very little and I hope he’s given a bigger case next week. Just as he was working with the bus company, I hope we get to see him use his skills to make the operation work with planes.

Paige comes up with a plan for Mike to buy all the girls, but because of Carlito’s orders, Sulla doesn’t allow him to. Because he can’t buy the girls, he decides to stay with them at the headquarters in order to keep an eye on them. I thought it was pretty smart move on his behalf to monitor the girls himself instead of making someone else do it. At the end of the day what I’m most pleased with when it comes to his decision is that it shows where his heart essentially lies – it authenticates the fact that he’s not merely in it for the praise of closing an enormous case but saving people. He was quick to take Paige’s advice about buying them and when that didn’t work out, he thought on his feet and came up with something that was actually wise. Speaking of Paige, here’s a reminder that she’s incredible on all levels and I cannot wait for her to see all these girls safe because they deserve to be free, and she deserves to have a peaceful sleep at night.

Note: Apologies for the shortness of this review. Sometimes, when an episode isn’t exactly filled with lighthearted moments or excellent character development, I have a difficult time writing about it. If I did continue, all I’d essentially be doing is babbling about how displeased I am with the lack of the substance in the last few episodes. I am open to discussions as always and if there’s something specific you’d like us to talk about, send us an ask and we can do so. But for now, I’m just going to hope next week’s episode gives me a little more to actually analyze and critique in terms of characters.